Courtney Meyer
"I can push buttons!"
Touching what amounted to a talking computer provided an astounding amount of excitement for one six year old boy named Bradley, recalls RCPD Informational Technologist Al Puzzuoli. Technological and scientific innovations showcased by the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities taught community educational leaders and families of visually impaired students like Bradley the value of learning Braille at Lansing's first Braille-A-Thon on Tuesday, June 23rd.
Nearly 200 attendees were welcomed onto the lawn of the State Capital Building by host organizations the Quality Education Team for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired and Michigan Parents of Blind and Visually Impaired Children. Networking opportunities and a range of entertaining educational activities emphasized the importance of literacy and allowed visitors to interact with approximately 15 organizations and institutions like the RCPD, the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan, and the Library of Michigan: Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Michigan State University was the only higher education institution represented, and RCPD Director Michael Hudson and Specialists Virginia Martz, Tom Hwang, and Al Puzzuoli, displayed assistive technologies such as a screen reader and text magnifier, large print software, and scientific Braille, through which charts and graphs may be understood.
(A student performs the limbo, one of the many enjoyable or educational activities which occurred at the Braille-A-Thon.)
In honor of the 200th anniversary of inventor Louis Braille's birth, this educational celebration allowed the RCPD to spread a message of possibility and opportunity while providing families a glimpse of an institution that cares. Promotional support from the Harold F. and Phyllis N. Wochholz Endowment for Persons with Disabilities and electronic media production assistance from the Carlson Accessible Media Program made the smiles on the faces of children like Bradley possible.
While technology is an invaluable asset to visually impaired and non-visually impaired individuals alike, the importance of Louis Braille's invention should not be understated. These variations of six raised dots within a cell create sounds, music notes, letters, and numbers, which can then be translated to books, buttons, signs, or ATMs, amounting to a comprehensive system of communication parallel to the ordinary pencil and paper. But since computers have not displaced the usefulness of books, pencils, and paper, those gathered at the Braille-A-Thon emphasized the necessity of Braille literacy, which is supplemented by the technologies displayed by MSU.
In accordance with the goals of the university's plan of recognition and excellence called Boldness by Design, all offices and institutions within our campus community seek to develop and enhance community, family, and economic life. Michigan State University's message of capacity and compassion for families through the RCPD provides encouragement and increases expectations. Bradley's newly discovered excitement for Braille and technology can be harnessed and translated into a passion for education, with which he can reach levels of success many never thought possible.